Giant Sequoias in Yosemite on a Trip From San Francisco

Tuolumne Grove

Tuolumne Grove sits on the Tioga Road just past Crane Flat, on Highway 120, the road most San Francisco tours use into the park. It holds about two dozen mature giant sequoias. The trail drops 1 mile downhill to reach them, with 500 ft of elevation change, and climbs back the same way, for 2.5 miles round trip in the park service's figures.

Plan 1-2 hours. This is the grove the Extranomical and Incredible Adventures tours use, and every sequoia stop on the San Francisco tours listed on this site is here. Because it sits just past Crane Flat on the way in from the Big Oak Flat entrance, the grove fits into a day tour in a way the other two groves cannot.

Merced Grove

Merced Grove lies on Big Oak Flat Road about 6 miles west of Crane Flat, so it is also on the Highway 120 approach. It holds about two dozen mature sequoias and is the quietest of the three groves. The trail drops 1.5 miles each way with 500 ft of elevation change, 3 miles round trip, and takes 1-3 hours.

There is no water on the trail. None of the tours from San Francisco listed here stops at Merced Grove, so seeing it means driving yourself or walking further than most day tours allow time for. On a day trip from the city the 3-mile round trip is a big slice of the 4.5-5 hours you would have in the park.

Mariposa Grove and the Grizzly Giant

Mariposa Grove is the most famous grove in Yosemite and the one with the biggest tree. It stands near the South Entrance on Highway 41, about 1 hour 15 minutes from Yosemite Valley, which is why no day tour from San Francisco includes it on top of the valley. Since it reopened on 15 June 2018 after a restoration, cars park at the Welcome Plaza about 2 miles from the grove and a free shuttle runs from late April through November.

Mariposa Grove Road is open to cars only for disability placard holders. The headline tree is the Grizzly Giant, about 2,995 years old plus or minus 250, 209 ft tall, 29 ft across at the base, with bark up to 2 ft thick. To see Mariposa Grove from San Francisco you need to drive yourself or allow an extra day in the area, and even then the shuttle hours and the roughly 1 hour 15 minute drive from the valley shape the day.

The Three Groves Side by Side

The table below compares the three giant sequoia groves in Yosemite on location, size, trail length and access, using the park service's figures. It shows why the day tours from San Francisco all use Tuolumne Grove: it is the only grove that sits on the Highway 120 approach road close enough to fit into a day that already carries 8-10 hours of driving.

The Park Figure Versus the Listing Figures

The park service puts the Tuolumne Grove trail at 2.5 miles round trip: 1 mile down, 1 mile back, with 500 ft of elevation change, and allows 1-2 hours. The listings disagree among themselves. Best Bay Area Tours says the walk into the grove is about 1 mile.

Extranomical says 1.6 miles. Incredible Adventures says 2.5 miles and breaks it into 20 minutes down and 35 minutes up. Use the park's 2.5 miles round trip when you plan, because that figure comes from the trail itself, not from a booking page.

The disagreement matters less than the shape of the walk: every step down on the way in is a step back up on the way out, and the 500 ft of elevation change is the part people feel.

What the Climb Means for Your Day

On a 14-15 hour day trip from San Francisco, the grove hike is real exercise wedged between two 4-5 hour drives. The small-group sequoia hike listing calls it a 1.5-hour hike, the Extranomical sequoia day allows a 75-minute stop, and the 2-day and 3-day Extranomical trips spread the same 75-minute hike over day 2 or day 3. Wear shoes with grip, carry water, and remember there is no water at Merced Grove and limited services at any grove.

In winter the trail holds snow and ice, and heavy snow can close the grove trail entirely. If the grove is unreachable, the day tours swap the sequoia stop for more valley time rather than cancel.

Day Tours with a Grove Stop

Three day tours build the grove into one long day. The Extranomical tour at $224 runs 15 hours and splits its roughly 5 hours in the park into 2 hours of free valley time plus a 75-minute Tuolumne Grove stop. The Incredible Adventures small-group sequoia tour at $229 runs 14 hours with a 1.5-hour grove hike, photo stops at Tunnel View, El Capitan and Half Dome, and 1.5 hours of free time in the valley.

The Best Bay Area Tours van at $239 runs about 14 hours with guided stops at Bridalveil Fall, Tunnel View, El Capitan and Yosemite Falls plus a walk it describes as about 1 mile into a grove. Full reviews of the Extranomical day live on its own page, as does the Incredible Adventures small-group page.

Multi-day Tours with a Grove Stop

If 8-10 hours on a bus in one day does not appeal, three longer trips also reach the grove. The Incredible Adventures 2-day with lodging at $629 hikes to the giant sequoias on the way in on day 1 and adds Glacier Point on day 2, weather permitting. The Extranomical 2-day at $251 puts the 75-minute Tuolumne Grove hike on day 2, with the overnight room booked separately.

The Extranomical 3-day at $251 saves the grove hike for the afternoon of day 3 and gives you a fully unguided middle day. On all of these, the standard park entry is included for U.S. residents, and non-U.S. residents aged 16 and over owe an extra $100 per person at the gate in one form or another.

What the Sequoia Tours Cost Compared with Valley-only Days

The table below puts every listed tour's price, duration and sequoia arrangement in one place so you can see what a grove stop adds to the bill and to the day. Figures come from each operator's own listing, and the nonresident entry cost is printed against each listing's own wording, because the operators do not state it the same way. This is the only place on the page where the fee is restated tour by tour.

The Nonresident Fee on Sequoia Tours

Since 1 January 2026, every visitor aged 16 and over who is not a U.S. resident pays an extra $100 per person to enter Yosemite, on top of the standard fee. On the sequoia tours that fee is almost never in the sticker price. Extranomical collects the $100 per person through a payment link after booking or on the bus, on both its day tour and its 3-day tour, and its 2-day listing does not mention it at all.

Incredible Adventures' listings say a non-resident fee may apply without stating the amount, its 2-day with lodging says about $100 per person at the destination, and Gray Line's listing, which is not a sequoia tour, quotes $103 as a government fee paid at the destination. Best Bay Area Tours says the fee may be collected in person if it applies. Only the private tour at $1,200 covers the nonresident fee itself.

A $250 America the Beautiful non-resident pass exempts holders and covers up to 4 people traveling together. The full breakdown lives on the Yosemite nonresident fee page.

The Arithmetic of One Day

San Francisco to Yosemite Valley is about 195 miles by either Highway 120 or Highway 140, and the park service budgets 4-5 hours of driving each way. That is why every day tour here runs 14-15 hours and spends 8-10 of them on the road. Inside the park a day tour gives you about 4.5-5 hours.

A sequoia tour takes 75 minutes to 1.5 hours of that for the Tuolumne walk. So the Incredible Adventures small-group sequoia tour leaves 1.5 hours of free valley time against 3 hours on its own valley-only day, and the Extranomical sequoia day keeps 2 free hours only by arriving early. If seeing El Capitan, Half Dome and the waterfalls matters more to you than trees, a valley-only day is the better trade, and the valley sights are compared on the homepage under what you see.

When the Grove Is Not Available

Chain controls are likely on the approach roads roughly November to March, and heavy snow can close the Tuolumne Grove trail, so in winter a sequoia tour may swap the grove for more valley time. That swap is usually the right call: the valley sights work in any season, while a snowy 2.5-mile trail with 500 ft of descent is a different proposition. The grove stop can also compress on hot summer afternoons if traffic on Highway 120 runs long.

If the grove is the whole reason you booked, ask the operator at confirmation what happens when the trail is closed.